The present invention relates to a hostage negotiation system to provide secure communication between a law enforcement agent and an extortionist. More specifically, the invention relates to a crisis response system including numerous covert features to provide additional information to the law enforcement agent and a hidden cell phone jamming device that can be remotely activated by the law enforcement agent.
Law enforcement agencies are frequently confronted with situations in which an extortionist has barricaded himself in a particular location and it is impractical for the police to enter that location for an arrest without risking the safety of hostages or those in the immediate vicinity, including the officers. In this type of situation, it is often times necessary for the law enforcement agency to communicate with the extortionist in order to determine the extortionist's demands and requests.
In the past, many types of negotiation units have been used in connection with existing telephone wires to speak with the extortionist. In these types of situations, the law enforcement agency typically taps into the existing phone wires and the extortionist uses the telephone located in the building in which the hostages are being held. However, this type of crisis response unit has several drawbacks, in that the communication with the extortionist may not be secure or there may not be an existing telephone in the building in which hostages are being held.
To address several of these problems, direct connected crisis response negotiation systems including two telephone handsets hard wired together are used. In this type of system, one of the handsets is thrown into the building, while the second handset is retained by the law enforcement agency. Through this hard wire connection, the law enforcement agency can contact and communicate with the extortionist holding the hostages.
While this type of system has worked reasonably well, it is desired to enhance the crisis response system to provide the law enforcement agency with additional information to enhance the position of the law enforcement agency in any hostage negotiation that may occur.
One example of an improved crisis response system is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,240 entitled “Hostage Negotiation System” and assigned to Professional Safety, Inc., the assignee of the present disclosure. The '240 patent is incorporated herein by reference.
In the crisis response system of the '240 patent, the command unit used by the law enforcement agency is hard wired to a throw module that is provided to the extortionist. The throw module includes at least one covert video camera that provides video feedback to the command unit that can be monitored by the law enforcement agency. The crisis response system further includes at least one covert microphone in the throw module such that the law enforcement agency at the command unit can receive audio signals from within the hostage situation without the extortionist's knowledge. During normal usage of the crisis response system, the extortionist communicates with the law enforcement agency over the telephone handset provided in the throw module such that the communication between the law enforcement agency and the extortionist is controlled.
Oftentimes during a hostage situation, the law enforcement agency severs the land communication link to the building in which the hostage is being held. This step eliminates the possibility of the extortionist communicating to outside of the building and focuses the entire communication to the communication taking place over the crisis response system.
Presently, cellular phones have become common place and it is very likely that an extortionist will have a cell phone with him or her during the negotiation process. Therefore, it is desirable for the law enforcement agency to have a means and device to prevent cellular phone communication by the extortionist during the hostage negotiations.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.